Environmental Protection
Shifts in social and economic conditions within
Hungary from the mid-1980s onwards, and the
effects of the regime change in 1989, curbed a
hitherto intense environmental deterioration
Air Pollution
In the 1980s a huge, contiguous strip of severe-
ly polluted air stretched along the north-east–
south-west industrial axis, amidst the North
Hungarian and Transdanubian Mountains,
enveloping the cities of Miskolc, Budapest and
Veszprém to the extent that air pollution en-
dangered the health of nearly half of Hungary’s
population. Due to a decrease in the emission of
air pollutants, areas with extremely high levels
of air pollution are now only found in small and
scattered patches. Since 2000, the proportion of
national territory with poor ambient air quality
has fallen from 11% to 6.3%, and the share of the
population affected by air pollution has dropped
from 40% to 35.9%. The rate of improvement is
best seen when comparing levels of sulphur di-
oxide emissions. In 1980 SO2 emissions reached
1.633 million tons, whereas in 2006 only 118,000
tons were emitted, representing a 93% reduc-
tion. The emission of nitrogen oxide decreased
from 238,000 tons in 1990 to 208,000 tons in 2006,
mainly due to the restructuring of the power
sector.
Over the period between 1980 and 2006,
emissions of particulate matter (PM) decreased
from 576,600 tons to 83,000 tons (i.e. from 54 kg
to 8 kg per capita). The most severely polluted
mosaics were found in the vicinities of Budapest,
Miskolc, Salgótarján, Pécs and Szeged (Figure 58).
Since the 1990s, air pollution from transport has
begun to endanger settlements near motorways
and major roads. Suspended PM poses an exten-
sive problem in Hungary. In 2007 the highest
concentrations of PM were measured in cities
such as Budapest, Miskolc, Pécs, Szeged and
Várpalota. High PM concentrations are mainly
78
and put an end to severe contamination in a
number of fields. As a result of this, a decreasing
environmental toll has led to the improvement
in the quality of the environment.
linked to heavy traffic, residential heating and,
in some places, to local industrial production.
Background concentrations of SO2 have been
considerably reduced following the trend in
declining emissions. In 2007, SO2 emission lim-
its were being respected throughout Hungary.
Background concentrations of NO2 have been
slightly reduced in recent years, however the an-
nual average immission level were exceeded in
Budapest, Miskolc and Pécs.
Ground-level ozone is a major concern
throughout the country. In 2007 health protec-
tion standards were exceeded at all ozone moni-
toring stations; the highest exceedance rates oc-
curred in Budapest, Dunaújváros, Kazincbarcika,
Salgótarján and Tatabánya.
Ragweed pollen (Ambrosia artemisiifolia)
potentially affects Hungarians who suffer from
respiratory diseases or allergies. In 2004–2005
the country’s ragweed cover and airborne pol-
len levels generally dropped, but both increased
again in 2006. In 2008, the highest daily concen-
trations of ragweed pollen (measured in pol-
len grains/m3) were registered in Nyíregyháza
(1,015), followed by Szeged (976), Kecskemét
(968) and Győr (957) (Figure 59).
With regards to climate change, the re-
duction in greenhouse gas emissions from 115.8
million tons in 1990 to 78.6 million tons in 2006
is notable (-32%). The most significant reduc-
tion took place between 1988–1992 due to the
collapse of energy intensive industries and the
restructuring of the Hungarian economy. Such a
considerable decrease has also come about as a
result of changes in the energy generation mix.
To meet future climate change challenges, the
79
Hungarian Parliament unanimously adopted
the National Climate Change Strategy in March
2008. Prior to 1990 seventeen coal-fired thermal
power stations were in operation, whereas by
2008 only one remained that was exclusively
coal-fired. Currently there are ten mixed-fuel
power plants (using mostly natural gas, biomass
and coal), four that operate on natural gas and
oil, whilst two power plants were permanently
decommissioned. Between 1998 and 2006, state
expenditure for the purposes of landscape re-
habilitation amounted to HUF 20.52 billion (ap-
proximately EUR 8 million at current exchange
rates), in the wake of terminating uranium ore
mining in the Mecsek Mountains. The funding
primarily covered tasks related to pollution
abatement and clean-up of the site.
The quality of the natural environment
suffered severely as a result of the activities of
the armed forces prior to 1989. The former Soviet
Army had completed their gradual withdrawal
from military bases in Hungary by 1991. After
their departure, 171 registered and abandoned
military objects remained in the country and
Hungary spent around HUF 5 billion on pol-
lution abatement, site clean-up and landscape
rehabilitation in the period 1994–2006.

Water Pollution

About 95% of Hungary’s surface waters origi- Framework Directive. Hungary is a country
nate abroad and its borders are crossed by 24 prone to inundation and with the largest flood
incoming rivers, which bring 114 km3 of water protection system in Europe (more than 4,200
annually. The risk of surface water pollution is km). In the last decade the country has taken
still grave and widespread, especially by nu- significant steps towards reducing its vulner-
trients and hazardous substances. The Danube ability to flood hazards, including the prepara-
generally has good water quality with regard tion of flood prevention and mitigation plans,
to chemical pollutants, whereas the Tisza is and the revision of land use planning and local
contaminated by mercury and zinc. Bacterial construction regulations.
contamination still prevails in large rivers (e.g. Despite the progress made in extending
Danube and Tisza). the water supply and improving purification
Some 60% of the Danube and 90% of the technology, 23% of drinking water (supplying
Tisza are accorded ‘quality class IV’ (polluted) 900 settlements with 2.5 million inhabitants)
for microbiological parameters and about 80% does not comply with EU standards for ammo-
of the Tisza’s length is accorded
qualities IV and V (extremely pol-
luted) for micro-pollutants.
Groundwater accounts for
only 16% of total water abstrac-
tions, but it provides almost the
entire drinking water supply of
the country (40% is bank-filtered,
about 10% is shallow groundwa-
ter and the rest is held in deep aq-
uifers). Shallow groundwater is
mostly affected by nitrates origi-
nating from agriculture and un-
treated municipal waste water.
A national river basin man-
agement plan is being prepared, in
order to implement the EU Water

80
nium, arsenic, nitrite, fluoride, boron, iron and
manganese content. The volume of municipal
liquid waste produced in settlements without
sewerage systems totals 100 million m3 annually.
Approximately 95% of this seeps into the soil
from poorly or incorrectly constructed septic
tanks. Statistics reported 4.69 million m3 of col-
lected municipal liquid waste in 2007. The re-
gional distribution in the volumes of municipal
liquid waste can be explained by the widening
gap between the availability of piped drinking
Waste Management
Waste management bears a special significance
as far as the quality of the environment is con-
cerned and in 1990 Hungary inherited severe
problems in this field as well. The amount of
waste being produced by industry and munici-
palities has been steadily decreasing since the
1980s. In 1990 this amount was 106 million tons,
deposited in approximately 2,700 legal landfills.
There are not even estimates available as to the
number of illegal dumps. Due to economic re-
structuring, the total quantity of waste had re-
duced to 90 million tons by 1995, and further
reduced to 68.7 million tons in 2000.
Industrial and commercial waste includes
the waste material of various technologies and
their by-products. Before 1989 the annual amount
of waste from production activities reached 100
million tons. By 1992 production waste totalled a
yearly 80 million tons, and by 1994 it had reduced
to two thirds of the 1989 quantity. Approximately
500 million tons of industrial waste (99% deriving
from mining, iron ore smelting, steel manufac-
turing, electricity production, and construction)
has been deposited in old landfills. These have
been shut and are today mostly reclaimed. An
estimated 7% of the waste deposited in landfills
qualifies as hazardous, and 90% of it is red mud
from alumina extraction, whereas the remaining
10% is drilling mud.
Present-day waste management is regu-
lated by the Waste Management Act of 2000. The
National Waste Management Plan (2003–2008)
sought to minimise the generation of waste, in-
cluding hazardous waste. These days of a total
water and of a sewerage system, over the pe-
riod 1945–1995. The drinking water network was
completed by the mid-1990s: by 2007, 94.7% of
dwellings were being supplied by piped water
and 69.8% of them were connected to the sew-
erage network. The amount of municipal liquid
waste decreased during the period 1990–2007
with the extension of the sewerage system,
yet certain spatial disparities continue to exist
(Figure 60).
of 26.6 million tons of waste material, municipal
waste accounts for 4.7 million tons and there is
1.36 million tons of hazardous waste. Industrial
and commercial waste amounts to 20.5 million
tons, and is properly treated.
The amount of collected municipal solid
waste increased by 188% in the period 1990–
2007 (200.9 kg/person in 1990, rising to 466.9 kg/
person in 2007) yet there are significant regional
differences behind this data (Figure 61). The in-
crease can be attributed to economic restructur-
ing, changes in the standard of living and con-
sumer habits, as well as to the fact that most
settlements (except for major cities) did not have
organised refuse collection before 1990. The an-
nual per capita amount of collected municipal
solid waste is especially high (over 600 kg/per-
son) in the counties of Komárom-Esztergom,
Veszprém and Győr-Moson-Sopron. Such high
quantities occur for a variety of reasons includ-
ing changing consumer habits, and thanks to
different heating systems, since central or gas
heating does not facilitate the burning of oth-
erwise combustible waste. In small settlements,
however, municipal solid waste is handled lo-
cally, which is reflected in the low quantities for
Békés or Bács-Kiskun counties. The composition
of municipal solid waste in Budapest is shown
in Figure 62. Analyses show that the nationwide
constituents of waste largely mirror that of
Budapest. In 2007 decomposing organic matter
was the highest proportion of communal solid
waste (24.5%), followed by plastics (18.3%) and
paper (6.5%). Metal and glass represent the low-
81

est percentages. The total amount of recycled
material maintains these proportions. In order
to facilitate selective waste collection 4,000 re-
cycling collection points and 74 waste collection
yards are available in 500 settlements.
The quantity of hazardous waste has been
gradually decreasing since the early 1990s due
to industrial restructuring. The aluminium in-
dustry, one of the major sources of such waste,
has dwindled significantly, thus the quantity
82
of red mud as its residue has de-
creased too. Hazardous waste out-
put has diminished by 49% in the
period 1996–2006. The most sig-
nificant decrease occurred in South
Transdanubia, as the amount of
hazardous waste per person was
nearly 30 times less in 2006 than in
1996. Major causes of the decrease
include the closure of excessively
polluting, large-scale industrial
works, e.g. uranium mines and
enrichment facilities, coal mines,
tanneries, shoe factories and other
chemical plants. Low values are
typical of the Somogy and Tolna
counties for similar reasons. The
impact of industrial restructuring has resulted
in an identically significant decrease in the coun-
ties of Komárom-Esztergom and Győr-Moson-
Sopron. Obsolete and outdated technologies
were replaced with new manufacturing plants.
In contrast, the amount of hazardous waste has
largely increased in Hajdú-Bihar County with
the expansion of the pharmaceutical works.
Out of all the counties, it is Veszprém, with its
outdated industry that was responsible for the
largest amount of hazardous waste after 2006.
Hazardous waste produced in 1997 barely
reached 23% of the 1990 levels.
In Hungary, only the nuclear power sta-
tion at Paks uses nuclear fuel for electricity
generation. Annually 58.6 tons of spent nuclear
fuel elements are produced here, along with
approximately 100 m3 of solid and 250 m3 of
liquid waste of low and intermediate levels of
Environmental Conflicts and Policy
The most serious environmental conflicts in
the period 2000–2009 gained publicity from the
campaigns of environmental activists and mass
media, as they ran counter to the interests of en-
vironmental protection, and this is something in
which civil society has played a significant role.
Among transboundary conflicts, the cyanide
pollution of the Someş (Szamos) and Tisza riv-
ers in Romania (by the gold mine in Baia Mare/
Nagybánya) in January 2000, and the heavy met-
al pollution of the same rivers in March of the
same year, this time on the Hungarian section,
count amongst the worst ever ecological disas-
ters in Europe. According to measurements, ca.
105–110 tons of cyanide were released into the
Someş (Szamos) and Tisza, and all living or-
ganisms were affected as a result; the estimated
amount of fishstock lost reached 1,241 tons on
the Hungarian sections of the two rivers.
A chronic conflict has remained out-
standing for twenty years between Hungary
and Slovakia, over the issue of the hydroelec-
tric power plant built at Gabčíkovo (Bős), and
the cancellation of Hungary’s participation in
the project at Nagymaros (Danube Bend). The
operation of the Slovakian nuclear power plant
at Mochovce (Mohi), and illegal waste transpor-
tation and dumping has aroused further con-
cern. Other issues include the illegal disposal
of hazardous waste originating from Germany
radioactivity. These hazardous waste materials
are professionally treated (in hazardous waste
incinerators, chemically safe waste dumps and
temporary containers). In 1999, about 950 kg of
chemicals per capita were produced in Hungary,
one third of which was toxic. By 2006 the total
quantity produced had increased by 15% while
that of toxic chemicals grew by one third.
in the Kiskunság National Park, pollution of the
River Rába (Raab) from Austria, the planning
of a waste incinerator by an Austrian corpora-
tion near the Hungarian border at Heiligenkreuz
(Rábakeresztúr) in Burgenland, and the opening
of a gold mine in Roşia Montană (Verespatak)
in Transylvania. The problems of environmental
protection are further exacerbated by the large
number of domestic issues, the solution of which
is mainly the responsibility of the regional envi-
ronmental authorities and local government.
At present Hungarian environmental pol-
icy is based on the Environmental Act of 1995
and the 2nd National Environmental Programme
(NEP) for the period 2003–2008, along with
the 3rd NEP (2009–2014) to be adopted by the
Parliament by the end 2009. The present po-
litical agenda is dominated by budgetary
consolidation, short-term crisis management
and economic convergence with the EU. The
Hungarian National Sustainable Development
Strategy, adopted by the Government in 2007,
provides a long term vision for 2050. In 2008,
two important institutions were established by
Parliament to enhance the concept of sustainable
development and environmental democracy:
the National Sustainable Development Council
and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Future
Generations (acting as ombudsman).
83